You know, I still hadn’t seen the exact words of the Zero Prophecy. I was just trusting what everybody had said. I was also trusting my vision, to be fair. And that was far more powerful than any set of words.
But still… I couldn’t help but feel that if I knew exactly what I was up against, I could find a way out of it.
I almost chided myself verbally as I realized what I’d just thought. There was no way out of this. There was only a way through it, I repeated my favorite statement, clenching my teeth as I did.
Two warlocks suddenly barreled into Josh’s side, but before they could knock him off his feet, I took one hand off my defensive spell and flicked my fingers to the side. While the fact we were in a wooded valley wasn’t great for visibility, it sure was useful if you were a wood elemental, like me.
I commanded the roots beneath the men to spring out of the ground. Massive clods of dirt escaped everywhere, looking like hailing bullet fire from machine guns. The wood wrapped around the two warlocks’ stomachs and pulled them back, giving Josh all the time he needed to shift forward with two kicks. His magic-charged foot slammed into both warlocks’ jaws, and they fell, thumping to the ground with limp bodies.
Josh pivoted on his boot and threw himself at me just as four warlocks rounded on him. They combined their powers for a single attack, and sent it slicing toward him.
I had to shove my shoulders forward and bolster my defensive spell as the warlocks’ enchantment slammed against it.
“You’re holding up great,” Josh found the time to say.
Great? I already felt bone-tired, and judging by the number of warlocks continuously springing through the trees, there would be no rest anytime soon.
Josh continued to do his thing, and I started to appreciate he’d been right. Back when he’d admitted to being one of the greatest warlocks the Army had ever seen, he hadn’t been lying. I was reminded of what he’d told Barney at the courtrooms – that he’d been the kind of warlock who would get more powerful after a fight, not less powerful. There was obviously something about battle that gave him energy.
That being said, there was a limit to everybody’s reserves. I couldn’t forget that Josh was still recovering from Jason’s vicious attack. And even if I could forget it, I certainly couldn’t forget my own weakness. A marching weariness was pushing through my muscles and bones, sapping me of increasing amounts of magic. Unlike Josh and Max, there’d been no one to heal me. I hadn’t slept for at least 24 hours, and I was goddamn hungry, to boot.
“How long can we hold these guys off for? Is it time to head back inside and go around to another section of the house?”
Josh’s mind appeared to boggle as he thought through that question. He wasn’t lazy while he did so, however. He reached a hand forward, locked it against my barrier spell, and added his own magic to the shield, making it double in strength. How Josh still had that much power to give, I didn’t know. I could kid myself and say that it had something to do with all the power I’d given him in the sorcerer pool, but that would be denying one fact. Josh always seemed to have more to give.
I just hoped that in my two months in his employ, I’d learned that key lesson.
“Yeah, you’re right. Time to head back in. Time to switch things up and keep those bastards on their toes. Now, can you do it yet?” he asked as he shrugged behind him, indicating the stone wall to our left.
Though I could technically shift to the right and try to aim back for the door, it was as if the attacking warlocks knew I was planning that, and they were pushing in hard from that direction.
“Come on, Beth – the only reason I let you come out here was that you promised as a fancy sorcerer you’d be able to learn stone magic like that.” He clicked his fingers.
I didn’t know if it would be as easy as clicking my fingers, but I had no choice, so I concentrated, pressing my lips together and gritting my teeth, really forcing my attention into my magic. But more than anything, I tried to force the door in my heart open. I didn’t have the time to think about Max’s kiss, but it was always there in my mind, almost as if it was now a permanent fixture of my brain. Just like memories of childhood were ubiquitous to most people, Max was now ubiquitous to me.
I could tell Josh wanted to push me, because I could tell the other warlocks were sensing a weakness, and they were coming at us in droves. Josh remained by my side steadfastly, one of his hands locked into my spell as he took up the brunt of the defensive shield, allowing me to concentrate.
Finally I started to catch a glimpse of the stone behind me. It didn’t matter that my eyes were closed. What mattered was that my mind widened, pushing into the stone, almost as if it wasn’t matter but just a shadow of it. A faint impression. Nothing more than a dream. And if you know how to fight a dream – changing a nightmare by taking control – then you know how to fight anything.
Clenching my teeth so hard, I could’ve spat them out, I finally did it.
I pushed a hand up, let out a suitable roar, and heard the stone shift.
“That’s it!” Josh said, excitement punching through his tone. I felt him hook an arm under mine. “You’re going to need to practice throwing your magic, Beth. We can’t allow that defensive shield to stop until we’re safely inside the building.
It was a hell of an ask. I’d been through a lot, but I had to go through more. And as I reminded myself of that fact, an image of Max slammed into my head. It was as if it anchored my body in a way that nothing else could. And that was precisely what it did. Because as the sorcerer who was meant to protect the finder, it was up to me to save the means to save the world.
Though now really wasn’t the time to think this, considering we were being assailed by 30 or so warlocks, I still paused to realize how my original fears about the prophecy had been turned on their head. When Jason had first revealed that some prophecy had promised me to him as a finder, I’d felt exactly like a damsel in distress. Now?
I was the hero. Though I wouldn’t exactly peg Max as a damsel. He was a little too refined for that. The point was, I was the one with all the power.
If only Susan could see me now.
“That’s it, that’s it,” Josh roared.
It was a hell of a mind bend to be able to practice throwing my magic into the shield while at the same time controlling the stone of the wall behind us. I managed it. Together, we reached the hole in the wall and ran through.
I heard the warlocks shouting behind me, and I felt them running toward us, but at the last moment, I extended my hand backward and cut off the hole in the wall.
There was a thump as a body hit it, but nobody made it through.
Josh and I were down on our knees, our hands planted into the polished floor of the atrium as we breathed as wildly as newborn babes.
Josh was the first to react as he pushed backward and knelt. Slowly, he swiveled his head toward me. A massive grin spread across his lips. “That, Bethany Samson, was—”
“Completely insane,” I finished his sentence as I rose, planted a hand on his shoulder for support, then finally stood on my own two feet. I shook my shoulders this way and that. Then instantly I jerked my head to the side. This wasn’t my house. I’d only been in this building for approximately an hour or so. That didn’t seem to matter. I was connecting to it. Blame it on the fact I was using so much elemental magic to alter the house’s structure, or blame it on the fact this house was linked to Max, and so was I.
Josh opened his mouth, but instantly frowned. “You can feel that too?”
I nodded, whirled on my foot, and headed further down the atrium.
Josh was at my side, his pounding footfall ringing out.
Together we reached another section of wall. Without even explaining what I was about to do, I thrust forward, opened my hand wide, and commanded magic to spread across my fingers.
“No rest for the wicked, ha?” Josh managed.
I opened a doorway back outside.
It was just in time.
We sprang at least 10 warlocks using some strange device to try to break through the house’s foundations.
They clearly weren’t expecting us, and we had about two seconds to take advantage of that surprise.
Josh did it. Somehow he reached even further inside himself, grabbed hold of his power, and let himself charge as brightly as a Christmas tree.
Then he thrust forward. He kicked the two closest warlocks, and for the rest, he sent magic spilling out in every direction as if he were a rock thrown in a large pool of water.
The men screamed as they fell backward.
But though Josh’s attack was immense, it couldn’t reach the five warlocks at the back. I swore I practically saw the cogs spinning in their heads as they waited for an opportunity to attack.
That’s where I came in.
With my own suitably gruff scream, I thrust forward. I curled both my hands into fists and punched them toward the ground.
I did it again, commanding the roots beneath the warlocks’ feet to spring upward. They sailed against the warlocks, wrapped around their bodies, and held them in place.
“Time to go,” I snapped at Josh as I wrapped a hand over his electrified arm – not that he would ever let his power burn me – and I pulled him back toward the wall. With a swipe of my hand, I commanded the stone to shift out of my way.
It did it, and a second later, we were back in the house.
I bent down, placed my hands on my knees, and tried to breathe. “This is insane,” I managed.
Josh chuckled. “You’re the insane one. I turned my back, and you’ve become a fully-fledged sorcerer. Those were some nice moves back there,” he added with a genuine smile pressing across his lips.
“Firstly,” I said, finally catching my breath and pulling up into a standing position, “I’m not a fully-fledged sorcerer. I’m not even a partial sorcerer. I know a handful of different kinds of magic. That’s it.”
“And secondly?”
“No, I agree with the second part,” I said with my own grin. “Now, let’s get out there. I sense something going on down there.” I jabbed a thumb in the direction of the kitchen.
“Let’s go,” Josh said as he clapped a hand on my back and pushed me forward.
We ran sortie after sortie. It was honestly as if I was in the Army.
And my brain… adapted. Which was crazy. I’d never thought I would have the kind of battle brain that would make me appropriate for situations like these. I’d been wrong.
I thought just as much as I needed to, and when I didn’t need to think, I just acted. Josh and I worked extremely well together, and that made all the difference. Yeah, technically I was a trainee sorcerer and he was easily one of the most powerful warlocks in Madison City, but at the end of the day, we were two against many. We couldn’t rely on luck. We had to rely on teamwork.
We ran another sortie around the corner of the house. The more sorties we ran, the more familiar I became with this place.
It was really a beautiful house. It wasn’t just the fact it had been spelled to be as large as the greatest mansion in the world. And nor was it because of its inherent connection to Max. Its aspect and the way it sat on the land was so… natural and calming. No, I hadn’t suddenly turned into a fancy architect. And now wasn’t the time to have designs on being an artistic soul. My point was that when Max’s mother had created this place, she’d done an astoundingly good job in marrying it to the environment. I think that made it easier to use my elemental magic, because it was almost as if the natural world wanted to help me.
Josh said very little, only communicating when he had to. And I was the same. We conserved our energy and breath.
Because the attacks were getting more frequent and more vicious.
We found ourselves at the back of the house on a lovely, wide, sweeping balcony that looked down into the valley. If it had been different circumstances, it would’ve been a great place to have a drink. As it was, I crouched down behind a protective spell Josh was casting. I surveyed the forest, staring at the astounding number of warlocks still pushing through it. I shook my head. “This is crazy, Josh. Where are they all coming from? I didn’t even know there were this many warlocks in Madison City.”
Josh shrugged his shoulders as he kept a hand spread to the side, a large, powerful, glittering spell protecting the balcony from the army down there. “That’s a hell of a point, Beth. The answer is there are this many warlocks in Madison City. Just some of them are usually in lockup.”
I jerked my head to the side as he said that, staring at him as I blinked hard. “You mean actual prison? You mean Internal Affairs has taken prisoners out to fight us?”
Josh narrowed his gaze and leaned closer to his defensive spell as he obviously got a better view of the forest below. A second later, he gave one simple tick of his head.
I blanched. “This is insane, Joshua McIntosh. It’s utterly insane. How many laws is Jason breaking right now? How much power do Internal Affairs honestly think they have that they can use frigging prisoners in their private wars?”
“All good questions, Bethany Samson,” he said, using my full name too. “But you’re missing one very important one,” he added as his lips stiffened and obvious fear marked his face.
I blanched. “What are you talking about?”
“Just what is happening in Madison City,” he revealed.
It took me a moment, then I felt sick to my stomach. God, he was right. I clamped a hand over my mouth and stared at him, possibly as freaked out as I’d ever been. “You don’t think Internal Affairs have done anything to the city, right? I mean, they’re after us. Why would they—”
“The why has already been answered, Beth; you really don’t need me to reference the Zero Prophecy and the end of the world again,” he pointed out. “There is so much power on the line here that of course Internal Affairs are going to use every single opportunity they can find. But in doing so, I bet you the city is under martial law. They’ll have called in the Army.”
I frowned at that. “But who exactly do the Army work for?” I mused. “I mean, I know it’s the government. And I understand why Internal Affairs were given so much power over the years. But surely Internal Affairs have no power over the Army.”
“Anyone who holds seven hidden sets has power over everyone,” Josh summarized darkly. “Internal Affairs holds all the cards now. So it doesn’t matter who the Army think they are and how much power they technically have under the law.”
I blanched again at that, my cheeks turning as pale as bone.
I’d been seated down on my knees, catching my breath from our frenetic fights, and I finally pushed up. That’s when I started to see something through the trees. Or maybe I didn’t see it. Maybe the connection to nature this house gave me started to warn me. There was this dense, quick, flighty sensation that pulsed through my stomach, making me feel as if I’d swallowed a bird. A bird that was desperately trying to get away from an eagle.
Maybe my cheeks looked as if they would drop off, because Josh jerked his head away from me, his eyes widening. “What is it, Beth? What do you see?”
“Jason’s out there,” I said between a tight breath, my voice barely discernible.
But Josh picked it up. It was his turn to blanch. He jerked his head to the side, narrowed his eyes, and searched the forest where I was gazing. “I don’t see anything,” he managed. There was no suspicion in his tone. No doubt, either. He knew me well enough to appreciate that if I thought I’d seen Jason, Jason would be there.
I pushed forward, getting as close to Josh’s flickering blue shield as I could. I pointed. “He’s behind that tree. Trust me,” my voice shook. “He’s watching us.”
Again Josh didn’t question. A sour but strong expression marked his face. He brought up his hand and gave a cursory wave. “Hi, Jason,” Josh said. “So nice of you to join us.” With that, Josh turned around and pointed inside. “Get in there, Beth.”
“You’re coming too
, aren’t you?” I asked with alarm.
“Actually, I was going to moon Jason,” Josh said cheekily. “I mean, I’ve always wanted to moon someone, but being the only government-sanctioned bounty hunter, I’d always been worried that it would affect my contract. Now,” Josh brought his arms out wide, “who cares?”
It was a rare moment of levity in an otherwise dire situation, but I managed a grin. “What are you actually going to do?”
“Though I’m no expert at these map-bending spells, I imagine it’s almost time for you to do your sorceress thing and bring the city inside,” he said as he jerked a thumb toward the house. “Max is going to need you. And I’m gonna need to stay out here, doing what I can to keep that bastard,” Max pointed toward the tree, “outside.”
My gut twisted. I’d always felt a little loyalty for Josh, and that loyalty had grown day-by-day and case-by-case. But after surviving this mini-war with him, my gut twisted at the concept of leaving him behind.
Maybe he could see that in my eyes, because he shook his head, a kind smile pressing across his lips. It was the most normal expression I’d ever seen the bounty hunter give. “Beth, this is it. And it’s okay that this is it. We’ve come this far together—”
“Don’t you dare make this your final speech,” I spat.
Josh looked alarmed and then laughed. Really loudly. And with way too many snorts. “I’m sorry? Final speech. Are you out of your mind? I’m gonna live forever. I may not be a sorcerer, but that doesn’t matter. I’m Josh frigging McIntosh, and nobody else does it like I do.”
I smiled at him. It was a weak smile, though. The kind of smile that was just begging to drop from my lips and turn into the world’s deepest frown. In other words, it was the kind of smile that would mark your most bittersweet moment.
Josh reached forward, grabbed my hand, and shook it before I knew what he was doing. “Bethany McIntosh, I do hope that you will consider staying in my employ once this mess has concluded and the world is saved. You are a valuable employee. And if you’re very lucky,” he brought his finger up and waggled it in my face, “I’ll even allow you full access to the house.”
Forgotten Destiny 5 Page 4
